Out-of-Character: Current and Potential Use of 'Character' in the Development of Swedish Urban Areas

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IN

DEGREE PROJECT CIVIL ENGINEERING AND URBAN MANAGEMENT,

SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS STOCKHOLM SWEDEN 2019,

Out-of-Character

Current and Potential Use of 'Character' in the Development of Swedish Urban Areas

DOUGLAS CARLSON

KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

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Abstract

Character is a term used in urban development and research to describe aspects of the built environment ranging from aesthetics and design to place identity and sense of place. This wide range of interpretations has led to a vague understanding that differs depending on the perception of users and actors in urban development. In the face of increasing housing demands and incentives to expand, Swedish urban environment has begun expansion that mirrors that of the Million Programme. To avoid a detached environment, character is investigated and proposed to be used as a tool for municipalities in the development. The focus is on answering what

‘character’ is perceived as by municipal officials involved in the urban development process, how character should be used and lastly how character should be approached when developing existing areas. Based on interviews for a practical understanding, literature for a theoretical understanding and contemporary studies for a contextual understanding, character is found to be perceived as the connection between not only existing buildings but also new ones as well as the users themselves. With emphasis on cohesion, originality, traditionality, diversity among other attributes, the character of an area should act as a binding agent for urban development moving forward. Finally, the approach to character is recommended to be cautious based on its vague nature but be treated as exploratory where a base set of two foundational attributes are to invite discussion to bridge the perceptions between actors.

Keywords: character, aesthetics, built environment, urban, cohesion, diversity

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Sammanfattning

Karaktär är en term som används i utvecklingen och forskningen av den byggda miljön för att beskriva saker som estetik, design eller platsidentitet. Denna spridda mängd tolkningar har bidragit till en vaghet som skiljer sig från person till person och gör det svårt att hantera i den byggda miljön. Med växande bostadsbehov och incitament att expandera har den nuvarande situationen börjat visa likheter med Miljonprogrammen. För att undvika sådan avskild utveckling undersöks och föreslås karaktär som ett verktyg för kommunerna att använda. Fokuset är att först etablera hur ’karaktär’ tolkas av kommuntjänstemän som är involverade i samhällsbyggnadsprocessen, hur karaktär bör användas och till sist hur man borde närma sig karaktär när man utvecklar existerande områden. Baserat på intervjuer för en praktisk förståelse, litteratur för en teoretisk förståelse och moderna studier för kontextuell förståelse finnes karaktär vara upplevd som knytpunkten för existerande byggnader, nybyggnation och användarna själva. Med betoning på sammanhållning, originalitet, det traditionella, diversitet bland andra ses karaktärs användning som ett bindande medel för samhällsbyggnad framöver. Slutligen, den rekommenderade attityden och användandet av karaktär är en försiktighet. Detta då vagheten är oklar och ska inte underskattas men bör utforskas med två grundliga attribut varpå vidare diskussion byggs för att koppla samman olika uppfattningar om karaktär.

Nyckelord: karaktär, estetik, byggda miljön. Urban, sammanhållning, diversitet

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Foreword

The idea to investigate character first came about from a desire to explore and connect the architecture of the city with the architecture of the buildings. Character as a term has been prevalent in works regarding architecture, sense of place, place branding along with almost any type of subject related to the physical and perceived shape of the urban environment. It seemed to bridge a great many things and served as a perfect catalyst to investigate the connection of previously mentioned architectural areas.

Throughout these works, however, the term ‘character’ was seemingly used to represent a wide variety of specifics I could not quite follow when I went from different discussions while remaining within the subject of the urban environment.

The perception of what character stood for in the urban environment was blurred beyond actual use in studies. Thus, the idea to capture this notion was born and to figure out an application in the context of city architecture meets building architecture.

The reason why this point caught my, the author’s, interest in the first place came from a visit to my hometown, Enköping, after some years of studies in Stockholm.

Although I had passed through several times during these years, I had not taken the time to think about the surroundings. A year or two ago it struck me that I barely recognised several parts of the town due to what seemed like large expansion of unprecedented residential projects. For a town of roughly 20 000 – 30 000 people, the introduction of major multi-family housing units that towered up to eight or ten stories was jarring when placed 30 meters away from the old high school of only one story.

But the reason it shocked me was not the result of an inherent neglection of new structure or a disturbed skyline, but rather how it did not take its surroundings or context into consideration. There was no apparent thought of cohesion between the existing structures and what had just been introduced. And through that, the incentive to investigate the current perception of character by municipal officials involved in the urban development process developed.

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List of Figures

Figure 1: An area developed during the Million Programme. Identical buildings lined

up in Bagarmossen, Stockholm. Source: Per Skoglund, 1998 ... 2

Figure 2: NUTS Regions of Sweden. Eastern mid-Sweden is referring to SE12 and SE11. Source: Creative Commons, 2010 ... 3

Figure 3: The main square (stora torget) of Barkarbystaden. Source: Author ... 17

Figure 4: The outlet structure of Barkarby meets the street structure of Barkarbystaden. Source: Author ... 18

Figure 5: The former industrial complex of Kvarnholmen. Source: Ellgaard, 2010 .. 20

Figure 6: Worker dwellings on Kvarnholmen. Source: Ellgaard, 2008 ... 21

Figure 7: The cultural centre Joar Blå. Source: Author ... 23

Figure 8: Paus, a galleria in central Enköping. Source: Author ... 24

Figure 9: Karlskoga commercial centre. Source: Author ... 27

Figure 10: Ekmansbacken, Karlskoga. Source: Lindebilder, 2012 ... 28

Figure 11: Tower blocks in Täby. Source: Author ... 28

Figure 12: The large, bow shaped buildings designed by Sune Lindström. Source: Author ... 28

Figure 13: The bright, boxed housing of Södra Ängby. Source: Abacus, n.d. ... 36

Figure 14: Skarpnäck. Source: Stockholms stad, 2018 ... 37

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1 Introduction

The connection between urban areas and their development is growing apart. A sense of local character is being lost when the area is developed with modernised, detached buildings. But what is character? In the urban environment, character has been tied to the identity and sense of place that is inhibited in an urban area. But the specifics are varied among researchers and discussions (Yu, 2013) which warrants a deeper look into how it is approached in its development. Looking at it through the lens of architecture could help define a common point upon which it can be further discussed and conveyed between perceivers.

As for architecture, Tham & Videgård architects present a general idea of what the term architecture encompasses. In short, architecture represents three main attributes in the built environment according to Tham & Videgård: durability, utility and beauty. These are in turn influenced in the execution of urban development by a separate set of three factors. These three factors are ‘good’, ‘fast’ and ‘cheap’. These factors, however, present a dilemma. Up to only two may be truly prioritised at the same time for any given project (Tham & Videgård, 2018). Although simplified, this dilemma is something that municipalities and developers face in urban development.

Time is often of the essence when it comes to meeting certain demands in the real estate market. This is rather well-known in Sweden where a political initiative from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s grew to define the urban development at the time.

Dubbed Miljonprogrammet (lit. the Million Programme), this initiative ended up issuing and introducing slightly over a million dwellings across the nation to meet growing housing demands. The focus was that it would be both cost effective (a 2- room apartment would not cost more than a fifth of an industrial worker’s pay) and fast to build, which in turn resulted in many identical buildings (see fig. 1) in urban areas close to cities like Stockholm (Stockholm, n.d.).

With fast and “cheap” being true, would ‘good’ then be false according to the dilemma presented by Tham & Videgård? The resulting development in existing urban areas at the time has been criticised and problematised as rushed and unintuitive (Granström & Wahlström, 2017; Haasmark, 2015; Allmännyttan, n.d.).

Rushing development to meet certain goals may arguably introduce the risk of failing to meet other unspecified yet important goals. Rapid expansion carries risks where haste could threaten ‘good’ development. With Sweden yet again facing growing housing demands, would the quest for good development be lost in favour of cheap and fast development? For architecture, could character be used by the municipality when collaborating with developers?

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1.1 Aim & Research Questions

The aim is to define the current and potential use of ‘character’ and provide a recommended approach in the context of urban development.

To reach that result, a definition that is applicable for various municipalities is needed by collecting an idea of how municipal officials and workers involved in the urban development process, with varying contexts and expertise, perceive it. This is followed by applying that definition on a variety of contexts to understand how it could be processed. The end product will be made with this definition and application in mind and together form a tool that could hopefully assist the urban development process when treating issues related to ‘character’.

Fulfilling these criteria, the following general questions will act as guidance throughout the work:

1. What is ‘character’ perceived as by municipal officials that work with the development process of the urban environment?

2. How should character be used in the urban development process?

3. How can character be applied by the municipality?

Figure 1: An area developed during the Million Programme. Identical buildings lined up in Bagarmossen, Stockholm. Source: Per Skoglund, 1998 Stockholm. (Photo: Per Skoglund, 1998)

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1.2 Delimitation

The main delimitation in terms of gathering primary data is based in Sweden, localised within a somewhat defined border around ‘Eastern mid-Sweden’ (Östra Mellansverige; see fig. 2). This is in part to ensure that there is no major change in outside factors such as relation to major urban areas or other such trends. Of course, this does not nullify economic, industrial, logistical or other factors that could vary based on geographical setup, but it does limit some major cultural differences within Sweden between various areas.

The literature study will however be conducted with literature from other parts of Sweden as well as other parts of the world, but their context will be taken into consideration.

Only municipal workers and officials involved in the urban development process are interviewed for this work. The role of the municipality as the central figure in decision making along with the connection to the municipality itself is the reasoning behind this focus. The expansion of this to involve private developers is referred to as a potential further research. Similarly, the exclusion of inhabitants themselves is made solely based on the macro perspective but would greatly reinforce this work and is also referenced as potential further research.

Figure 2: NUTS Regions of Sweden.

Eastern mid-Sweden is referring to SE12 and SE11. Source: Creative Commons, 2010

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2 Theoretical Framework

The approach to the notion of character is made on the basis that it tackles the more immediate and physical ideas. To investigate what municipal officials perceived as character and for a common understanding to be established, Kevin Lynch’s (1960) classic book ‘The Image of Urban Space’ makes up the foundation by investigating the direct function of an urban environments design. Complementing this, Jan Gehl’s (2010; 2006) perspectives on the receptive side of the inhabitants of the city is introduced. And lastly, resilience thinking as presented by Brian Walker and David Salt (2006) discussing uncertainties and the danger of seeking efficiency serves as an cautionary, introspective aspect for the work itself.

2.1 The Image of Urban Space

‘The Image of the City’ published by the famed urban planner Kevin Lynch quite literally takes a look at the city, judging the ability of people and observers to process the environment along with its ability to distinguish its features. He introduces two concepts regarding the visual environment with legibility (Lynch, 1960, p. 2) representing how well something can be processed by a person and imageability (ibid, p. 9) that in short encompasses the strength of an item’s power to catch your eye and be memorable. These two are the same concept just presented from opposite sides of the spectrum. The purpose of these are to highlight how urban space influences our habits and actions through not only its functions but also design and expression.

Looking back to the introduction (see section 1), the image of the city in this sense translates into the utilitas, or utility, of architectural character. Since it revolves how users navigate and connect to the area, Lynch’s base idea of how people can utilise the aesthetics may be seen as the practical foundation.

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2.2 The Wholeness of Urban Space

Although usually focusing on the micro, bottom-up perspectives, Gehl also presents the need of understanding the whole. Aesthetics and functions can easily contradict each other, but combined the right way allows for both to be empowered.

“City space can be designed so that all practical requirements are met, but randomly combined details, materials and colors rob it of visual coordination. In contrast, city space can be designed with dominating emphasis on aesthetics to the neglect of functional aspects. That the space is beautiful and the details carefully designed is a quality in itself, but far from enough if basic requirements for security, climate, and opportunities for staying are not met. The important aspects of city space must be interwoven into a convincing whole.”

-GEHL (2010, P.176) The above citation from Gehl’s book ‘Cities for People’ (Gehl, 2010) highlights the idea that coordination and seeing the whole are two essential mainstays when designing and shaping an environment. In a similar fashion, Gehl presents the issue of segregation and integration of functions and groups in his book ‘Life Between Cities’ (Gehl, 2006) where the emphasis is on making sure that the urban environment we craft is not made up of contradictive parts (Gehl, 2006, p. 101). As such, ‘the people of urban Space’ refers to how the receptive side or micro side is treated by the productive or macro side.

The wholeness of urban space represents the venustas (see section 1), or beauty, of urban space focusing on how users and their perception are considered in relation to the whole. Gehl’s idea of having something that integrates and connects could also be considered a part of the utility, but here beauty represents the connection of different parts of a whole. Beauty itself is hard to define in relation to character, which is why this connection is mainly to convert into a more operable term. Neither beauty, utility nor durability are perfectly applicable in this work but serve mainly as basis in the problematisation.

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2.3 The Optimisation of Urban Space

What needs to be avoided is the notion that there is an ideal masterful solution that acts as a cure all. Complacency is a dangerous sibling of neglect that happens to the best of people. To avoid this, an adaptable and resilient nature of character needs to be considered. Taking notes from the first chapter of their book, avoiding the desire for an efficient and optimal solution is often neglected according to Brian Walker and David Salt (2006). This cautious approach enables a certain reflection as to why measures are taken or chosen and whether there are redundancies to back each other up.

“The paradox is that while optimization is supposedly about efficiency, because it is applied to a narrow range of values and a particular set of interests, the result is major inefficiencies in the way we generate values for societies. Being efficient, in a narrow sense, leads to elimination of redundancies – keeping only those things that are directly and immediately beneficial.”

-WALKER &SALT (2006, P.7) Chasing efficiency promotes optimisation based on established parameters and known factors. These parameters and factors are rarely stationary in urban development and therefore are not to be treated as such. Optimisation, whether funds, time or other issues, could work in one case or during one period of time while not in the next.

“What it all adds up to is that there is no sustainable ‘optimal’ state of an ecosystem, a social system, or the world. It is an illusion, a product of the way we look at and model the world. It is unattainable; in fact it is counterproductive, and yet it is a widely pursued goal.”

-WALKER &SALT (2006, P.8) In essence, Walker and Salt warns of the pursuit of utopian solutions or something that tries to reach that same level of tunnel-vision while disregarding the fallacies on the way there. Although resilience itself could be of interesting use in this subject, it heavily relies on supporting subjects that are not able to be properly considered in this work and thus leave resilience and sustainability on the side-lines to be used in complementing studies.

The optimisation of urban space represents the firmitas (see section 1), or durability, of urban space. Resilience and durability are closely related, especially when concerning the future and its uncertainties.

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3 Methodology

3.1 Method

The aim of this work is to first establish how character of the urban environment is viewed by municipal officials, followed by how it should be applied and lastly provide a recommended approach of the municipalities. Based on interviewing municipal officials involved in the urban development process, the research aims to define its results from data gathered in this context with the municipality at its core. With the municipality at the core, the results are supposed to be applicably for municipalities first and foremost.

3.2 Data Gathering

3.2.1 Choice of Context and Participants

The focus on character perception among municipal officials in Eastern mid-Sweden derives from a relatively shared area of contexts for the data collection. With grounded theory as method, a qualitative data collection with a high variety of contexts would risk having data diverging from factors that may or may not relate across regional borders. The sample application of resulting approaches initially included areas outside this delimitation but has since been redacted.

The municipality and its officials and workers involved in the urban development process were chosen to be the main context and participants of this study. This was decided based on the municipality’s central role in the urban development process where they are involved in the area as a whole rather than projects scattered across different areas. The experience generated from working with the same area for a longer time and with possibly several different projects were the main reasons behind solely focusing on the municipal level for this study. There are examples of private developers developing larger areas over longer times, but for this research the municipality was prioritised.

3.2.2 Desk-Based Study

The study was performed through a foundation based on literature studies on initially what came to be the theoretical framework after a few iterations along with earlier studies made that relate to the main issue. The literature is collected through various sources gathered during the author’s studies at the Royal Institute of Technology, KTH. The main subject of the literature is either character, place identity, urban design or architecture in general. For the work itself, literature on resilience is studied to apply on the results in retrospect and shortcomings of its potential use.

3.2.3 Semi-Structured Interviews

The interviews were conducted in Swedish with municipal officials and workers involved in the urban development process in Järfälla, Nacka, Enköping, Karlskoga

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and Täby. The sites were visited in conjunction with the interviews for visual reference in some interviews.

3.2.3.1 Structure

The interviews are to be approximately an hour long with a leeway of +/-20 minutes.

This is to ensure that the dialogue does not lose quality in case the interviewee has mentioned everything they could think of as well as allowing extra time if another interview would go into deeper discussions around the nature of character. The Possibility to choose English as the language of the interview is offered, but all eight interviewees for this work chose Swedish. The interviews are booked beforehand through the author contacting either the individual directly or through the municipalities, and a date which both parts were able to meet was decided. The structure of the interviews was mainly based on allowing the interviewee themselves to relay their perception of character in the urban context with as little influence as possible from the author. The interviews started with the author ensuring the interviewee that upon request, they would remain anonymous to ensure they speak freely along with their permission to record the full conversation. Only one request regarding a final check on the specific quotations in the end product was requested and fulfilled. This is further emphasised in section 3.3.1

As for the questions, as mentioned above they were structured to be left open for interpretation to get the most unaffected answers possible. Apart from these questions, only clarifications and thoughts were pointed out while avoiding leading questions. The questions were as follows:

1. What makes [municipality] unique?

This first question was mainly to establish the context of the interview and provide a softer start to the conversation.

2. What is the character of [urban centre/area]?

The interviewee was asked to answer this question without worry of basing it on something they perceived as perhaps vague or insufficient understanding of the term in the urban context. Thus to ensure that the interviewee would express their own understanding of the term with as little influence as possible from the author.

3. How would you describe the term ‘character’?

With the previous question in mind, the interviewee was asked to clarify their own idea of character to provide some context both for the author but also themselves.

Why this was not asked first was to avoid giving the interviewee a chance to answer what they thought they should answer rather than their natural answer.

4. How would you place [urban centre/area] on a scale between time-specific contrary to place-specific character?

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This question was an initial idea of something that later would turn somewhat less relevant in the context of the report.

3.2.3.2 Interviewees

In the case of this study, half of the interviewees are city architects while the other half are a mix of various municipal officials involved in the urban development process. The interviewed are as follows (in chronological order determined by when the interview took place):

Emelie Grind, planning director (samhällsbyggnadsdirektör) at the municipality of Järfälla, Sweden. The interview was conducted at one of the municipality’s office buildings in Jakobsberg on the 25^th of March, 2019, at roughly 1 pm local time.

Nina Åman, city architect (stadsarkitekt) at the municipality of Nacka, Sweden. The interview was conducted at the municipality office in Nacka on the 28^th of March, 2019, at roughly 9 am local time.

Maria Legars, municipal curator (kommunantikvarie) at the municipality of Nacka, Sweden. The interview was conducted at the municipality’s main office in Nacka on the 2^nd of April, 2019, at roughly 2:30 pm local time.

Tomas Rådkvist, politician affiliated with Miljöpartiet (lit. the Green Party) and the elected chairman of the technical committee (ordförande tekniska nämnden) at the municipality of Enköping, Sweden. The interview was conducted at the municipality’s office in Enköping on the 8^th of April, 2019, at roughly 11 am local time.

Domagoj Lovas, the acting city architect (tillförordnad stadsarkitekt) at the municipality of Enköping, Sweden. The interview was conducted at the municipality’s office in Enköping on the 8^th of April, 2019, at roughly 1 pm local time.

Eleonore Åkerlund, head of administration (förvaltningschef) at the municipality of Karlskoga, Sweden. The interview was conducted at the municipality’s office in Karlskoga on the 12^th of April, 2019, at roughly 8 am local time.

Anders Berg, city architect (stadsarkitekt) at the municipality of Järfälla, Sweden. The interview was conducted at the municipality office in Järfälla on the 15^th of April, 2019, at roughly 10 am local time.

Martin Edfelt, city architect (stadsarkitekt) at the municipality of Täby, Sweden. The interview was conducted at the restaurant Tabbouli City in central Stockholm on the 24^th of April, 2019, at roughly 11:30 am local time. The recording of the interview was of subpar quality and the interview may be viewed as relatively incomplete.

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3.3 Empirical Analysis & Theory

The data gathered is analysed through cross examination between the secondary and primary data with the theoretical framework used as both a foundation for the discussion and thematic organisation of similar yet different topics. With the emphasis on grounded theory (Mills et al., 2014), the works presented in the section 3 (Theoretical Framework) serve as initial catalysts followed by more recent research in section 4 (Literature Review). The literature presented in section 3 is therefore used as the underlying data and theory complemented by the data integrated from the studies presented in section 4.

3.3.1 Grounded Theory

Grounded theory is used to tie together categories within the works presented in section 2 through coding and expand when combined with the primary and secondary data in the selected subject. Grounded theory is therefore used as both category identification and integration when analysing the findings from the interviews and as theory itself when providing an approach to character in the urban development process. Applied on the literature review followed by the interviews, categories that tie together how character is perceived formulate an initial idea of what character is. Integrating these ideas with each other creates a collected understanding from which an approach to character may be derived. This approach is then sampled on some areas that are not directly influenced by the information from the interviews but still relevant to the delimitation.

The issue with grounded theory is that it blurs the line between data collection and analysis. By briefly introducing the base ideas and formulations of the initial data, a raw understanding can be assessed before categorising and revisiting the data for new learnings.

3.4 Ethical Considerations

3.4.1 Semi-Structured Interviews

The interviews were conducted with the full consent of the participants. All interviews were planned together with the participants to ensure that not even a single participant was pushed to adhere to schedules they could only follow at their own expense. All participants were asked for permission to perform audio recording for research purposes along with the possibility to remain anonymous. One participant asked for the possibility to revise the citations and formulations they would be represented by which was granted and performed before the end of the thesis. The use of discriminatory or other offensive language in the procurement of data and treatment of participants has been fully avoided and is available in this methodology section for further scrutiny.

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3.4.2 Treatment of Sources

Harvard referencing has been used to ensure that all authors are fully credited and acknowledged. In the case of missing dates of materials and photographs, “no date”

has been stated in the reference list and abbreviated in the references themselves.

The current owner of the material has been referenced in the case of missing names of photographers instead of explicitly stating an anonymous source. All sources have been presented objectively along with an analysis and discussion that are as free from the author’s subjective influence as possible. Although, this could always be argued since the research is limited to the author’s capabilities and thought process.

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4 Findings

4.1 Literature Review

The first idea one might have about what character could mean in the urban context is to in some way comprehend it as vernacular architecture. Vernacular architecture is a type of architecture that is perceived as traditional or in other words recognised to belong to a specific area, region or culture. A word of Etruscan origin, verna means “home-born slave” or “native” which was then incorporated into latin as vernaculus meaning “domestic, native, indigenous” or “pertaining to home-born slaves” (Online Etymology Dictionary, n.d.). Vernacular architecture is therefore most often contrasted as anything that is not a named architectural style. Buildings that are built with only function in mind without the aid of a professional designer (Rapoport, 1969).

But is character only about overarching architecture? The vernacular term covers general, culturally homogenised areas and styles which started to lose relevance with modern technology and globalised construction companies, or at least has developed away from such delimitations. The character to be defined is something that allures to a more intimate level.

4.1.1 Urban Character

A doctoral study regarding regulation of urban character by Zhenbu Yu (2013) starts with the very question ‘What is character?’ (Yu, 2013 p. 29). Here it is acknowledged as a blurred concept stemming from its abstract nature, but divides character into three different perceptions, or layers, namely roots, essence and expression. Roots being expressed through genus loci or sense of place, essence as more of a psychological intermediary, and expression tied to the process of individuals to comprehend their surroundings. Essence of character is in this case seen as relevant but in another field of study, and as such focus is put on the roots and expression of character. In conclusion, character is perceived to be composed of physical, social and psychological factors that rely on the past (Yu, 2013 p. 42). But with character never remaining truly static, it changes while still being itself, the concept seems to overlap with the ideas of identity (which is mentioned).

Yu’s (2013) main recommendation is to establish a report with the purpose of surveying the local personality of the urban area as reference for further development, supplementing current Chinese planning practices (Yu, 2013 p. 316).

Investigating both physical issues (e.g. morphology, street patterns) as well as social issues (e.g. habits, customs), scholars and planning experts are to complement the public sector’s engagement (Yu, 2013). But with a Swedish context in mind, the areas of a more local context need to be examined.

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4.1.2 Shaping our Environment

Sweden has had a troubled relationship with growth spurts. A study at the Royal Institute of Technology KTH, Stockholm, regarding housing development and exterior architectural preferences suggest that what is being built today does not match the preferences of the end-user (Granström & Wahlström, 2017).

This study highlights the issue presented by the Million Programme introduced in section 1 that large-scale growth of urban environments risks developing a sterile environment that gives birth to negative stigmas. But it also refers to a thesis by Sonja Vidén and Thomas Hall (2005) that there was a great variety in physical size and scale, planning patterns, and aesthetic design in the programme. The reason this is brought up is because of an increase in housing demand and a prognosed need to provide 710 000 new homes in a span of 10 years. This suggests that Sweden may very well face a similar situation as 50 years ago, but if it was not the nature of the programme that was the issue, then what could have gone wrong? The study finds that end-users preferred areas are (Granström & Wahlström, 2017 p. 100):

➢ “Diversified with an overall identity and order,

➢ “Historical style is not an issue, traditional attributes are preferred,

➢ “Original as in unique,

➢ “Many details, well-made and genuine,

➢ “Warm colours, harmonic and definitely not garish,

➢ “A feeling of small-scale.”

The lack of some of these characteristics in contemporary built areas were regarded as detrimental for end-users to shy away to more traditional and established areas (Granström & Wahlström, 2017 p. 101). The fulfillment of these preferences, however, is regarded to be possible in contemporary development through improved knowledge sharing and inspiration, restructured allocation of funds, increased objectivity into design decisions, and strengthened collaboration between actors (developers, architects, municipalities) in short (Granström & Wahlström, 2017 p.

100-101). These preferences show a certain structure and the study itself hints at a more detailed level of perceived environment than what we might initially perceive.

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A similar study from 2018 in Gothenburg followed by looking into the importance of the façade when developing new areas and buildings (Möller & Olsson, 2018). The purpose of this study is to strengthen Gothenburg’s understanding of its inherent aesthetics to enable increased attraction on the global tourism market (Möller &

Olsson, 2018 p. 9). A similar set of attributes are found to be of interest in shaping the façade, namely (Möller & Olsson, 2018 p. 45):

➢ “Balance between uniformity and variety,

➢ “Richness of Details,

➢ “Traditional style,

➢ “Originality,

➢ “Connection to the place,

➢ “Richness of Colour”

Through improving these attributes, the attraction of an area is heightened, and its place brand strengthened according to the findings of Möller & Olsson (2018). But what does place branding entail and how is it related to the place?

4.1.3 Sense of Place & Place Branding

The sense of place, or place identity, may be described in simple terms as an abstract feeling that people passively, or sometimes actively, experience when inhabiting a space. Not only literal inhabitants, but also visitors, regular workers and other users depending on the area. This feeling is often described together with placemaking, identity and character. Placemaking representing the methods used to create it, identity being the abstract personality of it, and character as its physical representation. But to bridge the theoretical discussion with the practical, place branding is a more direct and economised term that ties together with place identity.

But the actual use of place identity is as difficult as its abstract nature is to specify.

Ares Kalandides (2011) deems the idea of place identity, mainly within place branding (but arguably also in general), to be vague and inconsistent at best. This is reasoned to come from people’s divided perception, few attempts of conceptualisation and in turn the anthropomorphic nature of ’identity’. Yet the identity is not solely based on the physical environment, but also indirectly through how it is perceived according to Shukran Qazimi (2014). This perception could both be actively influencing our activities but most often passively. What these two authors both point out is how the vagueness is a detriment for using identity directly in the built environment.

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4.1.4 Character

While vernacular architecture could be defining for certain areas, it is not something that is neither prevalent in urban development today nor focused enough to define the term ‘character’.

Yu (2013) finds character to be something that has many different sides depending on context and professional field. This vagueness and inconsistency among interpretations further highlight the influence subjectivity may bring to a definition.

It is apparent that character, while rooted in physical factors but influenced by social and psychological, is complex and should be approached as such. The sense of place encompasses these social and psychological factors to a point, but their complexity could potentially extend further than that. Kalandides’ (2011) and Shukran’s (2014) presentation of place identity tells of a separate entity related, but not identical, to Yu’s idea of character. Together, these ideas suggest that character and identity are somewhat separate, yet related, with character being a more physical representation.

Applying the image of urban space from section 2.1 highlights how this passive understanding of the identity is largely indirect through character.

With character and identity separated, the physical aspects presented by Granström and Wahlström (2017) as well as Möller and Olsson (2018) show that people connect to certain patterns or themes among attributes. Whether ‘Original/Originality’,

‘Many details/Richness of details’ or ‘Historical style/Traditional style’, the attributes overlap between the studies with a certain attribute standing above the rest. As wholeness of urban space focuses on the perceived whole in the urban environment, these studies emphasise ‘Diversified with overall identity and order/Balance between uniformity and variety’ that encompasses the other attributes. A uniformity/order together with diversified [areas]/variety, in other words cohesion and diversity, presents an interesting viewpoint on how people see their environment. Another pair of attributes that could work in a similar fashion are the traditional/historical aspects counter the original aspects.

To perceive and understand the physical character of an urban area, acknowledgement of its physical composition is needed. Through the literature review, character is emphasised as something that has different interpretations but by focusing on the physical factors is able to be separated from related and similar terms such as sense of place and place identity. Focusing on this physical interpretation, the attributes that are sought after by users of the urban environment present a picture of both variation and order, diversity and cohesion.

In summary, character is the physical representation of the user’s perception and connection to an urban area according to the literature review.

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4.2 Interviews

The interviews themselves are detailed in this section and further analysed and discussed together with the literature separately in sections 5 and 6.

4.2.1 Interview with Emelie Grind

With the initial discussion point around Järfälla’s uniqueness, Emelie Grind introduces Järfälla municipality as an area that has historically served as a connection point for the region west of Stockholm. “It was an important part in the relation between Bergslagen and Stockholm for hundreds of years”, Grind points out. The railroad through the municipality constructed by the end of the 19^th century was preceded by the first landsväg (lit. nationally financed road). Järfälla was there as the last resting stop before reaching Stockholm from the inland. With the introduction of Förbifart Stockholm (lit. Stockholm Bypass, a highway and tunnel project in the region), the crossing of highways E4 and E18 located just south of the municipality will become the biggest intersection in the nation. This has put its mark on Järfälla’s development by having it act as a transportation and logistical node that it retains to this day. “Barkarby itself has been an important intersection of several trade routes, not of its own merits”, she finishes,” but for the location’s relation to other end points”.

As for Grind’s perception of the character of the city district Barkarbystaden, she emphasises the notion of diversity upon the city block structure as the defining characteristics. “Facing digitalisation and automated vehicles among other things”, Grind adds, “planning from a foundation of city block structure has created a reassurance by enabling a variety between different blocks and their connections”.

With the municipality owning most of the land, controlling and managing its development has been mostly unrestrictive. The real character of Barkarbystaden is a distinct structure where the municipality has full control of the public space (streets, parks etc.) while selling the land for real estate development one block at a time, prioritising unique aspects and quality over short term monetary gain. “It results in not having a given characteristic trait shared among the blocks but individually shaped blocks that brings together a bigger picture”, she adds. Grind credits this to the growing need for housing and wish to quickly add new urban areas to satisfy, without having the historical familiarity of cities such as Falun that shares the same size which has developed a character through hundreds of years. The goal is to create Barkarbystaden’s own unique characteristics by themselves through encouraging innovative ideas among the developers, where such initiatives are rewarded with support. “Essentially, the character is to create diversity even though the city is built and grows at an extreme pace”, Grinds summarises.

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Regarding what the term ‘character’ entails, Grind responds that the character is what can be read and understood from how the public space is designed. For example, the main plaza of Barkarbystaden. “We designed it to be big, with granite, vegetation that vary throughout the year, artistic decorations and seating of good quality”, she explains, “and by calling it ‘Stora Torget’ (lit. the main square, see fig.

3) and designing it as such will raise the character of the local area”. There are other ways to enforce certain actions on the developers but having the municipality themselves lead the way and initiate deeper dialogue encourages others to follow instead of forcing them to do so. In essence, not relying on whips but using carrots to highlight what the municipality believes regarding the open space and its design choices. But it is also a matter of cost. The people that its being built for demand a certain level of quality but also affordability. It is about choosing the right level of quality and making that choice with care. Being open and daring to invite the developers so as to influence the design through dialogue and discussion. “But it is about taking responsibility of the bigger picture in the public, open space and to motivate developers to engage and a will to find smart solutions for their respective city blocks”, she adds. She emphasises the need of courage, daring to walk around and point out areas that in hindsight are not what it first would seem. Acknowledging this and finding ways to adjust early enables tuning of the area and better adaptability to what people need.

Figure 3: The main square (stora torget) of Barkarbystaden. Source: Author

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4.2.2 Interview with Anders Berg

The first thought regarding Järfällas situation expressed through Anders Berg’s perception of its uniqueness is credited to the variety of urban environments. “Well, we haven’t really had any dense city – but it is on its way”, Berg says to correct himself. “And that density is on the level of central [Stockholm]”. The variety of buildings range from villa areas to 1940s, -50s up to -70s areas. But other than that, it is the access to green areas and greenery in general. “I remember taking a walk from Kallhäll, through the green areas and ending up in Akalla”, he says merrily.

“Passing through Jakobsberg and Barkarbystaden really put everything into perspective regarding the width of the municipality”.

Moving on to the character of the new city Barkarbystaden, which Berg says is characterised by ‘meetings’ or ‘nodes’. “We have, for example, the [Barkarby outlet]

that is perhaps the most notorious meeting point for commercial reasons, especially if you’re not familiar with Järfälla as a whole”, he notes. “And that’s where the new city will grow forth” (see fig. 10). Traffic is a major issue when it comes to planning the design of the new city, with the conversion of road to street being a particularly difficult undertaking. Together with the need to bind and connect different areas together by creating a new structure is itself a difficult task. It is a key concept that changes are happening at a slow pace. “I have previously worked with Kungsholmen and when I started there the developments had already been underway for ten years followed by me working there almost ten years before coming [to Järfälla]”, he explains. “What I did there is starting to surface now which shows that the process takes around 30 years”. But looking at other issues such as borders between private and public space, what at first glance might seem trivial is instead a very advanced and time-consuming endeavour. Implementing ideas such as open inner

Figure 4: The outlet structure of Barkarby meets the street structure of Barkarbystaden. Source: Author

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definition of urbanity is to understand or to have a sense of relief or calm in a public space”, he states. “The whole point was to have flows throughout the city and with the emergence of such signs means the whole idea has broken apart”. Drawing upon his experience with open inner courtyards on Kungsholmen, the result is that with time they are rebuilt to ensure that the space remains private. There was a period with open gates and the like, but it is no longer true in broader strokes. One of the qualities of these more natural lines between spaces are the levels of community.

There is the public but neighbourhood that shares this inner courtyard is a more intimate public itself, resulting in varying degrees of familiarity.

Returning to the notion of character, Berg finds it to more easily be distinguished through regulations in planning and the like. What is decided through the detailed zoning plans is what will be enacted, and in a way decides the character of the building. This control has a somewhat deciding factor since it asserts what will be possible in the first place, which in turn decides the resulting space on the street. The space between buildings is where character is perceived in the first place, and as such is a driving factor for deciding its aspects. “If you have villa plots and you’re only allowed to develop it to a certain degree, then you have put limit to what type of character it could turn into no matter how the houses are designed”, he states.

Density itself is a ruling factor in terms of deciding this general character.

4.2.3 Interview with Nina Åman

Nacka with its vicinity to Stockholm and the east coast has a history influenced by industry and leisure, according to Nina Åman, with major industrial facilities and summer residences close to the water and the countryside. What makes Nacka unique is its localisation and nature in relation to its surroundings, creating a narrative to the municipality. With the sparse population, the questioning of expansive development stems from a distancing from Le Corbusier’s boxes and growing appreciation of established or classical architecture. The desire to leave the reconstruction of central areas and housing close to nature led to developing residential areas in barren vegetation. “The reality today is that everyday needs are met through commuting methods rather than in the local area with how the population has been spread out”, Åman problematises. “There hasn’t really been any push to develop what already exists, but rather start over from scratch in untouched areas”. People crave for the classical architecture still, but without insight into the circumstances that existed when it was built and the circumstances today, especially economical. A narrative is needed so as to avoid misinterpretation and risks of people missing hints that are too subtle.

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As for the character of the urban centre Kvarnholmen, Åman sees the major distinctions as the old industrial complex (see fig. 4) along with the workmen’s dwellings that together define an industrial community and its history. “Now there are major developments adding new buildings, but they are doing so with the context in mind”, she adds. She draws parallels to Tobaksmonopolet, the tobacco facility on Södermalm, Stockholm. This facility is a sensitive matter in times of increasing incentives to densify. “The character is not always apparent to the naked eye”, she explains, “it is easy to see it simply as it is, a small building there and a big here et cetera, but much of the character is tied to how the facility operated”. This in turn is something that was in hindsight not adequately handled.

‘Character’, according to Åman, is best represented by personality. Whether colour, shape or function, it is represented by a diversity of expressions. “Character could be, as it often is, what is seen but in cases like Tobaksmonopolet it is also heavily reliable on how it has been used”, she argues. Another point is how peoples’ differing perceptions and anticipation rule how it is regarded. A parallel is drawn to a development project in Saltsjöbaden, eastern Nacka. The local urban centre was to receive new buildings around four to five floors, that in early stages had a completely different reception as it progressed and the inhabitants not living in the immediate vicinity shared their thoughts. “That’s a really interesting aspect to identity”, she adds, “the image people have of place”. In conclusion, a certain narrative is needed to successfully ensure that additions to existing development is not rejected. Åman admits that sometimes some factors to be used as common denominators are enough, but cases that have rich history or other abstract connections need to be

Figure 5: The former industrial complex of Kvarnholmen. Source: Ellgaard, 2010

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4.2.4 Interview with Maria Legars

The unique aspects of Nacka according to Maria Legars are its geographical situation between the Baltic Sea and the capital, Stockholm, along with its nature. The topography along with the water has defined the development in perhaps subtle but essential ways. “What has created its cultural environment are the conditions people have faced historically and in turn how they’ve handled them”, Legars explains. In short, what defines Nacka, is its location, topography, nature and sea connection. “It was the foundation for what became an industrial centre for Stockholm that pushed out dirty industries outside the capital”, she adds. Nowadays, its industry is no longer the main aspect but has been replaced by the villa areas courtesy of Saltsjöbanan suburban rail system. “These characterising villa societies dot the landscape along the railway and further a suburban identity”.

Kvarnholmen’s character is defined by its industrial history according to Legars, similarly as to how Nina Åman (see 5.1.2) perceived it. “The access to the water, the main transportation route, was a driving factor as to why the industry was localised there at the end of the 19th century” she explains. The buildings are noticeably different further inland which can be traced back to the changes in the industry and changes of ownership that in turn incentivised new developments.

Some of these are the functionalistic multi-family residential buildings and worker dwellings (see fig. 5). Apart from the existing buildings, the topography and volume are also defining the character of the area. What has been characterising for the development is its structural direction and working with the topography rather than against it.

Figure 6: Worker dwellings on Kvarnholmen. Source: Ellgaard, 2008

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As for the notion of ‘character’, Legars perceives it as something closely related to identity but that identity is edged deeper into abstract territory. The depth of identity goes far beyond what could fully be perceived visually, while character is something more tangible. “An [existing] place has an identity, while you work on the new developments character for it to connect to existing character and in turn identity”, she specifies. They go hand-in-hand but are not directly redundant to one another.

“The growth of a character is affected by both the conditions set by the physical place and the time its built”, she adds. “It isn’t isolated from its contemporary counterparts but rather comes about depending on its zeitgeist”. She summarises this as a sum of many parts that all play a part and in turn can’t be ignored.

4.2.5 Interview with Tomas Rådkvist

During the last four years, Tomas Rådkvist has spearheaded a motion in the municipal council of Enköping for it to once again employ a city architect. Around the turn of the millennium, Enköping ceased the employment of a municipal city architect that got in the way of the politicians’ ambitions. The result of this is the liberalisation of building standards and qualifications, Tomas Rådkvist claims. “No one could quite grasp the conformation of the city”. Someone was needed to think about the bigger picture and study the development to ensure that there was proper thought put into the town’s expansion and revitalisation. “Enköping today keeps growing and growing, but when I got into the municipal politics the population was actually decreasing”, Rådkvist reminisces. The cause of the sudden change of growth is credited to the introduction of Mälardalen, a railway project to connect the region with the same name. “Stockholmers suddenly realised that they could get thrice the amount of real estate in Enköping as they could in Stockholm [but still be at commuting distance]”, he adds. It was in this new growth period that the incentive to build new areas and develop old arose but this time without the coordination of a city architect. “There has been planning architects, but not with a comparable role to that of a city architect”, he says to highlight the issue, “Someone with a collected expertise is needed to confront the politicians”. The detailed zoning plans (detaljplaner) were all too detached from each other with no real coordination, which could probably be addressed through planning programmes. “It would cost both time and money”, he concludes, “but it is worth it in the long run when a cohesion exists”.

An increased amount of planning programmes equals increased wholeness and urbanity.

Moving onto what makes Enköping unique, Rådkvist introduces the area as an old industrial community with connections to companies such as Bahco and ABB. The smaller scale, its vicinity to lake Mälaren and the familiarity amongst its people defines the town according to Rådkvist. “Perhaps not unique per se, but the connection to the industrial history and the intimacy produces some kind of personal variant even though other cities have their counterparts”. The town adapted the slogan ‘Sweden’s closest city’ during the seventies for better or worse,

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of thought put into the various businesses and activities stand out and highlights the absence of a well-designed plan. “There hasn’t been much thought on the businesses and operations regarding their relation to one another”, he laments and claims that chance has guided the development of these activities rather than a proper strategy.

“But that is currently changing as of our new Civil administration, although we do still need a city architect!”.

With Enköping’s situation established, Rådkvist’s perception of its character is inquired. But the character of the urban centre is difficult to put a finger on. “There’s the now demolished Stadshotellet (lit. city hotel), the Westerlund garden and Joar Blå (lit. Joar Blue, a cultural centre; see fig. 6)”, he proposes as defining expressions of character. The Paus galleria (see fig. 7) by the central square along with the quaint cafés are also very defining of the urban centre’s character. “There hasn’t been any proper care of the ‘old’. There was a cultural-historical survey of Saint Ilian junior highschool, but it was never talked about afterwards.”, he states somberly. “It is mainly seen as an annoyance whenever it is mentioned, almost as if caring about the old environments are only important when it fits [the directive]”. But he also mentions that there are positive trends with Fanna (urban area, central-eastern parts of the town) recently showing an increasing effort to do so. They rebuild existing buildings while also working to capture the environment that was previously there.

“Again, if a city architect had been present and able to coordinate the effort, the development would been largely different in town”. At this point, the interviewee was inquired if maybe it was rather about a red thread (or minor theme) than something specific? “Yes! There can be exciting contrasts between the old and the new, as long as there is a thought behind it”.

Figure 7: The cultural centre Joar Blå. Source: Author

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With that, Rådkvist was asked to try and define ‘character’ in relation to Enköping and its urban centre. “It encompasses many different things”, he says. “Partially the purely aesthetic impressions of one and many environments, but in essence the entirety when it comes to buildings, streets, green areas along with how people live there”. It is the activities that control the flow that in turn influence how the character may be perceived. He draws an analogy with his childhood growing up in southern Stockholm. “It wasn’t that exciting when I grew up, but today its quite the opposite”. The main square of Enköping is then pointed out to not have any particular character, but that that it is in part ruled by how it ties others together. “It is about how the traffic moves, the accessibility, and its sense safety during both daytime and evening”, he states. The urban environment needs input, thought, creativity, dedication and comprehensive focus to avoid stagnation. “In Enköping we have believed, or maybe hoped, that it surfaces by itself while we focus on other things, but it needs constant attention and commitment”, he finishes. “Politicians need resistance from the expertise so that we do not act on feelings rather than knowledge which always comes around to bites us in the end”. He ends by stating that there is a need of a city architect that with collected expertise, knowledge and creativity can face the politicians and developers head-on to improve the understanding of the development.

4.2.6 Interview with Domagoj Lovas

The unique part about Enköping according to Domagoj Lovas is its geographical location in relation to the bigger region. Much like Tomas Rådkvist (see 5.1.4)

Figure 8: Paus, a galleria in central Enköping. Source: Author